Effectiveness of Online Learning in the HyFlex Educational Environment

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities switched from in-person to online instruction. An alternative model was HyFlex, in which students alternated between in-person and online instruction. We ask students who experienced online and face-to-face (F2F) education during the same semester, with the same instructor, and in the same class to compare and contrast two methods of learning, online and in-person. We design a survey to assess students’ experiences in the HyFlex accounting courses. We find that the online learning environment is more challenging in terms of distractions that students must deal with and their lack of focus, self-motivation, and discipline. Students find online classes to be less interactive and more difficult to participate in and to ask questions. Students acknowledge that the quality of their online experiences varied with the subject and the instructor. They express satisfaction with the online learning environment when describing convenience and flexibility in terms of where, when, and how they learn the material. Although the majority of surveyed students would prefer taking classes in-person rather than online, many feel less anxious and stressed when they have the flexibility to take part of the course online when needed.Keywords: